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World Malaria Day 2013: We Cannot Afford to Wait

Editor’s Note: Ray Chambers is the founder and Co-Chairman of Malaria No More, with Peter Chernin, President of News Corporation. He is taking a leave of absence from that role to focus on his appointment as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria. This article was published in partnership with the Skoll World Forum.

In a world where there are more mobile phones than people, with almost unlimited global connectivity and where transactions occur in seconds not days, it seems incongruous that one out of eight children in sub-Saharan Africa die before reaching their fifth birthday. This is especially true, because the means of saving these lives are often much simpler, cheaper, and easier to implement than mobile phone technology.

It is in part, because of this simplicity that such tremendous gains have been achieved against malaria and other diseases.

Over the past four years, enough Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets have been delivered to protect almost 1 billion people, along with enough diagnostic testing and treatments to reach hundreds of millions. Over the three year lifespan of a Long Lasting Insecticidal Net, a child is protected from malaria for less than half a cent a night. This is just half the cost that it was five years ago and prices continue to decline.

As a result of this scale up, progress has been astonishing. Now, globally, there are about half as many deaths as there were a decade ago, and a dozen African countries have cut their malaria death rates by more than 50 percent. Interestingly, the death rates of children from all causes have gone down faster, often when the only intervention has been an insecticidal bednet or a malaria treatment. This shows a link between malaria and outcomes for children with other childhood diseases.

In addition to gains measured in the form of lives saved, we know that the investment in malaria is paying off in the form of economic stability. A recent study conducted by McKinsey and Co. indicated that for every $1 dollar invested in malaria commodities, a $40 return can be expected in the form of productivity from healthier, better educated more productive working communities. As economies in endemic countries continue to grow (average growth rate of 6% in sub-Saharan Africa), endemic countries are better positioned to contribute a greater share of their own resources. As this trajectory continues, we are moving to a model whereby traditional donor aid can steadily decrease, with the difference being covered by the declining need, increased efficiencies, and increased endemic country support.

I’ve seen the results first hand, with burgeoning economies in countries like Rwanda leading to increased domestic investment in health.

There are now less than 1,000 days to the end of December 2015; the target date for achieving the internationally recognized Millennium Development Goals. Between now and then we have to collectively save the lives of nearly 4½ million children under the age of 5 to achieve the fourth of these goals which aimed to reduce the numbers of children dying each year from the 12 million in 1990 to 4 million or less by December 31st, 2015.

To achieve the goal we have to achieve the UN Secretary-General’s target of near zero deaths from malaria by the same date. If we do that, not only will 750 thousand children’s lives be saved, but it will be one of the best examples we have of Foreign Aid in action and provide an example for the other major child killers: pneumonia and diarrhea. Indeed, one of the best interventions we can do, in addition to replacing worn out nets, is to ensure that all fevers are tested for malaria. WHO recommends this and the technology is available through rapid diagnostic test kits, which cost very little and there is only a 15 minute waiting time to know the result. In malaria endemic countries, this will show that not all fevers are caused by malaria (much less than half) and the appropriate treatment can be given for whatever may be causing the fever. That has been shown to improve correct diagnosis and reduce deaths of young children.

Much of the malaria funding is available from the Global Fund against HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as from USAID/President’s Malaria Initiative, UK Aid and other partners. There is, nevertheless, an estimate of a gap of $3.8 billion to cover the full replacement of worn out nets, diagnostic tests and treatment for the next 2½ years. We know that over time, this need will decline, and alternative resources will increase, but at the moment, responding to this shortfall is of the greatest urgency. Every minute that goes by another child dies of malaria, and that is one minute and one child too many. Every day, nets are expiring, leaving children at risk if they are not replaced. The clock is ticking, we cannot afford to wait.

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